Wednesday 10 December 2014

A blog about not blogging, solved by reblogging a blog about not blogging

I don't blog as I used to, nor as much as I'd like.

I have some things to write about (quiet a lot of things to write about), but sometimes I find that my views can be summed up in more concise words. For example; 'don't be a dick' (thanks Wil Wheaton!).

I'm not as volatile as I used to be. I still have that energy in my mind, but instead of feeling the need to release all of it on the world , I double take and think; 'who really cares,' or sometimes more importantly 'do I really care that much?'

All my little projects: The Cardboard Cartographer, Underhive Hero and so on, suffer from the same fate. The same apathy.
The problem is I always feel a little guilty when I find I can sum up a lot of things a lot more economically, or I just don't have the tenacity, or passion that I once had.

Sometimes you just have to write. For when that passion comes back, that righteous indignation, that need to speak.

It is with this note, I would like to point you to Wil Wheaton dot Net (Wil Wheatons blog) and his latest one of his latest posts, 'A blog about not blogging.' -  (I know I'm dating this post by doing this but I don't rightly care good sir!) - http://wilwheaton.net/2014/12/a-blog-about-not-blogging/

'This isn’t one of those posts about not posting, except that it kind of is.

A couple of nights ago, Anne and I were sitting on the couch, Seamus between us, watching Modern Family. A fire in our fireplace warmed our living room, and both of our cats, who were stretched out in front of it.

Modern Family is one of my favourite shows on television, because it brilliantly fills a hole left by the Simpsons, when it stopped being about characters and started being about guest stars and whacky shenanigans: it’s a terrifically funny look at a family trying to be a family while their life happens around them. More often than not, it cleverly weaves together seemingly unrelated stories into a satisfying ending, and the writing is consistently clever and unexpected.

During a commercial, I thought about my kids, and my family. Ryan’s 25 and Nolan’s 23. We see them at least once a week for family dinner, but usually more than that. We’re a close family, we love each other very much, and every moment we spend together makes me so proud of all of us, because we struggled and suffered a lot for years at the petty and vindictive hands of their biological father. That we have anything at all is pretty remarkable, considering how relentlessly he tried to destroy our ability to be a family, and that we have something so special and rare makes all the suffering and struggling worth enduring, because here we are today, Team Wheaton.

I said this wasn’t one of those posts about not posting, except that it kind of is. During that commercial, as I thought about Ryan and Nolan and our lives together, I noticed that I don’t write about us as much as I used to, which means that I don’t write in my blog as much as I used to. More often than not, when one or both of them is over, I can take a picture and post it to Twitter, and it tells an entire story that would have once been saved for a blog post. Yes, I could still do that, and add the picture to the post, but that’s not the way we do things these days, and it feels like most people don’t read or comment on blogs, anyway.

So this isn’t a post about not posting, except that it is. It’s a post that reiterates, for me as much as anyone, that I need to write, because it’s doing the right thing, even when I feel like I don’t have anything to write about.

Runners run, even if they’re not in a race, and they run every day, so they’re ready for the race when they find themselves at the starting line.

Sometimes a nice jog, for the sake of jogging, can be a worthwhile thing. In fact, it’s worthwhile more often than not.'

 Thanks to Wil Wheaton, as always, for the words of wisdom and inspiration to keep moving forward.
I will endeavour to jog, for the sake of jogging.

-DH-

Monday 24 November 2014

No post November? Totally a thing...

Sorry for the lack of updates this month folks.

Basically, my Birthday is this month, so between trying to drink enough to forget my age and playing Destiny I haven't got round to much.

I'm currently mid Twilight Imperium campaign with a group that meets on Thursday so there will be some musing on that at some point.

Also I've been working on a few old projects modelling wise; trying to get them finish for completion sake.


In addition to that I've been applying for some postgraduate courses in an effort to push my life forward.

Unfortunately that means my blogging has suffered.

It will be back though!
Soon!
ish!

-DH-

Thursday 23 October 2014

76. A Road to Hiding Behind a Wall. Sisters of Battle Part 18.

So much for faith is our shield...

Welcome back to the Underhive!

I've been getting a couple of positive comments on my Aegis Defence Line, so I thought I'd carry on with that during this crazy painting spree I'm on.

That and I really like my Quad Gun!



If I'm honest here, I would have liked to have made more progress with this.
The reason I haven't? Scrubs.

Serious. Since my post 10 days ago I have re-watched  every season of scrubs.
Including the 'med school' spin off.


No comment.


On to painting huh?
I completed the wash and progressive drybrushing stage of the Aegis defence line


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While I was doing this I cracked on with the marble tiles on the base of the Quad gun


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I also started the gold icons too, because; why not?


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The wall / tile mix is almost identical;
Denheb stone > Drybrush Karak & Screaming Skull > Add Ceramite white > progressively more white.
The only difference is that the wash on the wall is a brown one after the first stage,

The tile's wash on the other hand is a sepia wash before the last couple of layers.

The gold is just Vallejo Liquid Copper with a couple of washes of Army Painter Strong Tone.
It needs some layers and highlights to make it a bit more gold.
I like my gold beaten and dirty though, so it wont be too bright when it is done.

Here is a picture of the both together with some better lighting

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In between layers drying I worked on the turret a little

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I'm liking how this is turning out.
The Purple is obviously flat and the wrong shade, but it is only foundation purple.
Many layers before that is done.

I thought I'd throw in a little action (ish) shot for fun.

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'Dat test sister model cameo.
I like this action shot. It also makes em ware of how important leaving the 'girder' section metalic/ silver-ish.
It creates a nice visual 'barrier' between the Aegis and the models behind it.


That is all for now.
While I had the gold out I did some work on another piece,
but I want to do some more on that before I post updates about it (it needs a lot of work!).


Thanks for reading and/or cowering behind the nearest wall.
-DH-

Tuesday 14 October 2014

75. A Road to Glory. Sisters of Battle Part 17.

Simple title is simple.

So. Basically, I'm lazy and haven't been out to get the Agrellean Earth paint form GW.
So in the meantime I thought I'd keep this painting train rolling.

I decided to starting painting my Sisters of Battle... well... sort of.

I started my Aegis defence line.

Undercoat stage.

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Started the base...

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Tin Bitz and Boltgun metal drybrush.

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Dheneb stone base coat.

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Soft tone and Agrax Earthshade wash.

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Admittedly it isn't impressive progress, but like all these things I've been painting recently it seem to take forever.

Just the long pieces and tower to wash and then I'll move on to fixing the metals and then some actual painting work.

Woo!

-DH-

Monday 6 October 2014

74. Team D-Ork. Base = Done. Let the Layers Commence. Blood Bowl part 6.

Hello sports fans. Prepare to be generally disappointed!
Unless you are a fan of production line painting, in which case, huzzaaah!

While I wait for an opportunity to go out and get some Agrellan Earth to paint the cracked effect on my crashed Aquila (see previous post), I've been cracking on with my Ork Blood Bowl team.
So, enjoy!

First batch of picture is just base layers.

A quick silver drybrush;




Base layers of Mechrite red, Calthan/ Scorched brown and Fenris grey;



Painting the tabbards Khemri brown/Dheneb Stone;





Moving on to the first layers.
I do these before my initial shading wash to touch up anywhere I messed up on the base layers and to give the colours a bit more depth.

So the first step was the red. 50/50 Mechrite Red + Scab Red;



Then it is on to the biggie. The green.
A 1:1:1 mix of Orkhide shade, Knarloc green and Dark Angels green




Haven't finished the greens yet, so that, along with the other first layers will be the next port of call for the Blood Bowl updates.
A long way to go as after shading it lots of layers and highlights and details.
But it is starting to take shape =]


Once these guys are done I'll have to go back to the human team!
And/or all the other projects I have that are being ignored...
We'll see.


Leave some feedback, stories, tips/tricks and constructive criticisms if you so desire.
You can comment on the relevant post, or hit me up @DarkHaZZl3 on Twitter.


Until next time, thanks for reading

-DH-

Wednesday 1 October 2014

73. The not-so-mightly Imperial Navy. 40k Urban Terrain. Crashed Aquila part 5.

After painting all the same colours for an age I decided I wanted to do something different

So I thought I'd start adding some detail to the crashed Aquila Lander.


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Hopefully the 'step by step' photo approach gives you a little insight into how I do my freehand stuff.
Not that I've really shown much of it off.

But essentially it's like drawing and then painting a picture.
I paint the outline, and then colour it in.

It isn't finished yet. This is just the template.

I'm not sure what to go for;

A cracked paint effect
or
A marble effect (stone/white)
or
A marble effect (green)

Thoughts welcome here.
Whichever is chosen it will be suitably 'roughed up' to fit with the rest of the piece.

These photos have thrown up a few bits here and there on the ed and black that need touching up, so I'll have to go back and do that as well.

Ta' for looking guys!

-DH-

Monday 22 September 2014

72. Terrain = Grey. Brown. Repeat. 40k Urban Terrain. Crashed Aquila part 4.

Seriously.
Having themed terrain is awesome. Having a 6 x 4 Board is awesome.
Having them theme matched is extremely awesome.
Having to paint them to match is dull as fuck.


GREY?! BROWN?!
You know it.

So the day I updated this project last time round I thought I'd start doing the grey layers.

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Same(ish) recipe as always; Dark grey > Medium Grey > Light grey > Wash black > Final Brybrush.
(There are a couple of layers in between each stage but you get the idea)

Towards the end of last week (Friday?) |I started on the browns.
Same principle as with the grey, just with added dabbing and stippling on the ship itself to give it a weathered look;

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A closer picture

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A close up of the metal

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The metal was easier than I'd anticipated.
The original layers were; Brown > Tin Bitz > Boltgun metal > Chainmail > Brown/Black wash

So to bring it back up after the basing layers got on it I gave it a heavy drybrush of Boltgun Metal.
Then I washed it with a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Smoke and Nulan Oil Wash, watered down a fair amount.
It gives it a very worn/oily brownish tint.
After that a quick drybrush of Boltgun and Chainmail and that's it.

Still some work to be done on this  ¬_¬
I've done some light weathering but I want a bit more; chipped paint, rents and tears maybe.
I want to work on the front piece a bit more; better smoke damaged glass, maybe a bit of blood splatter on the cockpit.


Also I'm toying with rust, and adding some brass details with verdigris. Thoughts?
Either comment on my wip thread on the bolter and chainsword, comment on this post or hit  up on Twitter @DarKHAZZl3


See you next time hivers
-DH-

Friday 19 September 2014

71. Teamwork! Blood Bowl part 5.

So, in between painting tedious amounts of red (see post 70) I painted tedious amounts of green...



Just the base coat of green down. A lot of red to do on these guys too ¬_¬

Also, I received some pledge rewards from a project I backed on IndieGoGo a while back.
The project was a chaos Blood Bowl team by RN studios .
RN's IndieGoGo projects fall into my 'basically a shop' category, which I intensely dislike, however, some of the rewards were backer only, so I wanted them.

So here we have a 'chaos' cheerleader (going to be a human cheerleader);



And this 'Jason' model, which will just end up in a Necromunda gang/ Chaos cultist unit;



Not the most exciting update, nor is it the biggest.
I'm not going to lie, most of my time has been taken up painting red and black. I want that thing out of the way mannnn.


Have you backed any model based crowd funding projects lately?
Feel free to drop me a comment about them if you have., or hit me up @DarKHaZZl3 on Twitter.


That's all for now.

-DH-

Tuesday 16 September 2014

70. MOAR layering. 40k Urban Terrian. Crashed Aquila part 3.

Hey guys. MOAR painting.

You can't tell from the pictures if I'm honest, but this has been several layers of black > grey and several layers of dark > lighter red. Both hit with a black and red wash respectively



Here is a closer picture that shows off the layers a bit better...



Wash leaves a little residue on large flat surfaces...so I'll be going back to 'scuff' it up a bit.

A fair bit left to do;
Base,
Metals,
Damage,
Details and embellishment.

That's all for this update. After the sheer amount of time I spent painting it so far I kinda hoped I'd have more to write.. but I really don't.
Painting large models is tedious...

Anyway
Peace out

-DH-

Sunday 7 September 2014

69. (Giggity) Inquisitor Coteaz Part 2.

well the Inquisition calls, you best paint. Or else.

I finally got my new painting stuff!

Some Isopropyl, Alcohol based brush cleaner, synthetic miniature painting brushes and a few vial/pippet dropper combo's.

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So the Liquid Copper kind of looks like this

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Lets get started!
After watching a load of videos on this stuff I was ready to roll.

First you shake the paint very, very well.
Then you pour some into a pallet and close the bottle asap.
After that take some Isopropyl and use it to thin the paint.
And go!

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So far it is just the base Copper washed down with strong tone.
The Cape is a couple of layers of foundation red.

Ready for the never ending layers of red!

The Liquid Copper has great coverage...kind of made me very aware of how poor the casting of this miniature is...
Ah well.

I might paint some more of him this coming week. Been really tired this week though, so who knows.


Anyway, Peace out

-DH-

Wednesday 3 September 2014

68. Black and Red. Place Your Bets. 40k Urban Terrain - Crashed Aquila part 2.

Hey guys.

As I wait for my new alcohol based painting gear I thought I'd crack on with something else



Base coating this was very, very dull.
Mainly because it is so very big and flat.
But it was something to pass the time while I was pretending to be a phone on prop hunt.
Phone = Win.

Its getting there though!
Basing + Highlighting + Extensive detailing (of which will be a lengthy process)

New update will be up before the end of this week with any luck!

-DH-


Sunday 31 August 2014

67. One Step Closer to TOUCHDOWN! - Blood Bowl Part 4.

What did I say? WHAT DID I SAY?

Update ^_^

Pretty much finished the Ork prototype.
He is, like his human prototype counter part, number 6 #No6





As always with these things, it looks a bit brighter in person. I really need to set up some sort of photograph booth.


What needs to be done;
The base needs work, The green needs some extreme highlights, the grey needs some shading work and other bits of detailing here and there need doing....

Just a bit then! Jeez!


Comments and constructive criticism always welcome.

hut-HUT!

-DH-

Thursday 28 August 2014

66. Procrastiantion; A Device for Instigating Painful Time Travel - Blood Bowl! Part 3.

Crazy stupid title && MOAR #ThrowbackThursday

Blood Bowl! You heard!

I know, I should be painting other things. Basically I decided if I was going to start painting again I need to wind back into it. I didn't want to jump into a model at a sub par standard.
So procrastination? kind of, but for a decent reason.

Painful time travel? Certainly.
I'm painting an Ork test miniature. If you can cast your mind back to my first Blood Bowl post, 385 days ago (August 8th), you'll probably be able to gather why this isn't the most comfortable. I shouldn't be the one painting these.
But I am.
I was always likely to... but I didn't want it to be under these circumstances.


Life kicks you when your down. But then, isn't that the rules in Blood Bowl?

So here is the prototype Ork so far;













Despite this inauspicious sounding start I really enjoyed painting this guy so far.
I've always found layer Red's and Green's a therapeutic process... and I really like the way he's looking so far.

He is a bit 'clean.' Maybe I'll address that later.
Also, 'll list the colour recipes later, when it is finished and I'm happy with the complete article.

Feedback welcome guys! Don't be shy!!
It would be great to heard about your experiences with Blood Bowl, Painting, and sharing your hobby with you SO/ Former SO.

Hit the comments bellow, or hit me up on Twitter @DarKHaZZl3

This guys is not too far off finished so expect another update or two on him soon!

-DH-